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Climate Change & Conservation News

Agriculture

Farmer And Cows With Solar
collage of National Grazing Lands Coalition photos

Combating climate change: Solar energy, farming, and the future in New York

Could your land trust participate in, or help host, a learning session on how we can ramp up renewables as part of agricultural lands? If agricultural conservation and viability is part of your work, then slowing down climate change is going to be critical for your success—and the success of your farmers and ranchers. I'm providing the following workshop example as inspiration for what you could do in your area.

American Farmland Trust (An Example of Taking Action)

November 13, 2019
Hotel Indigo, Riverhead, NY
Join farmers, solar experts, public officials, and others to discuss ways to expand renewable energy generation, support farm businesses, and drive action in response to climate change.

Cost: $15 (payable by credit/debit card or eCheck)

Ticket price includes breakfast and lunch. Land use training credits will be offered to local officials. For any questions about the event or registration please contact newyork@farmland.org.

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Solar Panels
Pixabay

Sheep get to work maintaining Newfield solar array

Help your community and/or region understand how solar can be compatible with farming—or pollinators—if it is designed in such a way. In this case, it's grazing sheep. In other cases, it can be growing crops or grazing large animals.

As solar panels in the 30-acre array off of Millard Hill Road in Newfield soaked up Tuesday morning’s sunshine, a new kind of maintenance crew was headed out to work: a flock of about 45 sheep. Though timid about getting out of their trailer and exploring the new surroundings at first (it was their first time leaving their home farm in Enfield), the lambs quickly got to work munching down on the tall grass, clovers, forbs, and other greenery sprouting up between the panels.

The solar panels in Newfield were Nexamp’s [a solar energy team’s] first community solar project in New York and officially went online last year…

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Soil For Agriculture
Judy Anderson

For climate-smart farmers, carbon solution is in the soil

If your land trust works to conserve farm and ranchlands, what could you do to help support the landowners' transition to carbon farming? One step is to spread the word...

There’s a new agricultural commodity that farmers, food giants, and grassroots groups are all rallying behind: carbon.

Proponents say that if the United States’ 20th-century success as a global agricultural power was measured by how much food came from American soil, the 21st century offers a new paradigm: measuring how much carbon dioxide American farmers can retain in the soil while still producing food…

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Hayfield
Judy Anderson

Two families lock in a deal to ensure their farmland never becomes home to a warehouse

One of the ways you can talk about climate change is by embedding it into the larger story. This is a good example of an agricultural project that mentions it, in a conversational manner, as one part of the overall benefit of land conservation.

After a warehouse popped up near their properties, two Union Township farmers recently took steps to make sure their land would never be put to the same use.

The Nye and Shuey families put conservation easements on their land deeds, which means the land will have to be used for agricultural purposes in the future, no matter how often it is sold.

“I hate to see these warehouses going up,” said Deb Shuey, who preserved more than 100 acres of her land. “I would like to see this land stay as farmland and not be developed…”

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Potato Farming From The Top

Soil champions: farmers lead

American Farmland Trust is spreading the word. Could you share this? Or create your own version with local farmers?

Farmers take risks all year long and with climate change, those risks are growing with extreme and unpredictable weather. Yet we know from research that soils can and do impact how fast climate change will accelerate—or slow down.

American Farmland Trust, in partnership with farmers and partners, is ramping up its communications efforts to support farmers in this transition. Check out this short video where the farmers of Long Island, NY, talk about the changes they have made, and why.

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Pond Scene
Judy Anderson

Taking steps to “walk the walk”: Peconic Land Trust makes changes

They've also spent some time looking at their internal operations to identify where small changes could make an impact. If your local land trust is looking for ideas on where to start, this might be an interesting list to consider...

Peconic Land Trust’s (PLT) values and goals reflect their organization’s desire to protect their environment and appreciate the natural resources of Long Island, New York. Over the last several years, PLT has taken steps to minimize their carbon footprint by making their offices more efficient and by integrating “green principles” throughout the organization.

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Agrivoltaics
Hyperion Systems

Agrivoltaics: Solar panels on farms could be a win-win

Many local food advocates argue that an inadequate portion of the food consumed in Massachusetts is grown there. The short growing season along with high costs for labor and land can make farming in Massachusetts a financially precarious proposition.

Some advocates say that dual-use solar installations have the potential to ease a number of these problems at once…

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Solar Panels Sunflowers
Engie Distributed Solar

Pollinators, solar, and your land trust

There’s a major opportunity to help slow down climate change and ramp up pollinator gardens with community and large-scale solar.

The timing is critical given new research is documenting that climate change is decimating pollinators of all kinds. As one article notes, “it’s a great year for monarch butterflies [but] climate change means that won’t last.”

Limiting global warming to 1.5°C (and thus saving countless species) would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.

The good news is that solar pollinator farms can make a big difference. That’s also good news to landowners and farmers who could benefit from the regular income that solar payments provide. For many, that might make the difference between selling out or staying on the land…

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Flooded Farm
Nature's Path Organic

Climate change is here, and it’s becoming harder to farm successfully

Your average farmer may not want to hear about climate change (do any of us, really?) or global warming, but their livelihood puts farmers smack in the crosshairs of the weather, and many of them are already being affected.

Changes in the timing of rains, the frequency and intensity of droughts, floods, heat waves, intense winter blizzards, hurricanes, and tornadoes, as well as the spread of previously unfaced pests and diseases are now become daily and yearly challenges for farmers in many areas around the world.

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Carbon Farming Cycle
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Carbon farming: good for farmers, ranchers, and climate

Perhaps your land trust can help promote carbon farming in your region.

Marin Agricultural Land Trust is part of a community of scientists, ranchers, agencies and policymakers in and around Marin County, California that is working to develop and advance climate-friendly land use practices, known as carbon farming, that could help make food production part of the climate solution.

Carbon farming is a set of practices that reduce or reverse a farm or ranch’s greenhouse gas emissions. Ranchers and farmers can actually improve their land’s ability to remove carbon from the air—where it contributes to climate change—and instead store it in the soil, where it’s not only harmless but also beneficial to plants.

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